DO Match Day produces 115 orthopedic surgery residents: 6 insights

More than 1,600 osteopathic medical school seniors and graduates matched into osteopathic residencies in 25 specialties on Feb. 5, according to the American Osteopathic Association. Of those that matched, 115 — 7 percent — chose an orthopedic surgery specialty.

Here are six things to know:

1. Over half — 55 percent — chose family and internal medicine, reflecting osteopathic medicine's traditional emphasis on primary care. Over 700 positions were not filled during the initial match process, but many positions have historically been filled after the match announcement.

2. Slightly more than 2,200 graduating osteopathic medical students of the anticipated 6,600 and approximately 300 DO graduates participated in this year's AOA match. The match rate was 65.7 percent, slightly lower than past years.

3. Osteopathic residencies are consolidating, not disappearing. The AOA, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education are in the third year of a five-year transition to a single accreditation system for graduate medical education. Presently, almost half of all osteopathic training programs have transitioned to ACGME accreditation with the majority expected to complete the process by the end of 2020.

4. DOs can currently choose between multiple systems for postgraduate education. In the single consolidated accreditation system, most DO and MD students will join in a unified National Resident Matching Program, in which participants will have the opportunity to choose residency programs that received osteopathic recognition.

5. The number of osteopathic medical students in the U.S. has grown 85 percent in the past 10 years, according to an AOA report, bring the total number of osteopathic students and physicians to 137,099 in 2017. There are now 34 DO schools in the U.S. with 49 sites. Enrollment has increased an average of 25 percent every five years. From 2008 to 2017, the number of students seeking MD degrees rose 18.6 percent, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

6. Of the DO students and graduates who matched this year, slightly more — 118 — chose general surgery than orthopedic surgery. Emergency medicine was the most popular non-primary care specialty, with 158 matches.